ENOUGH OF THE ELITE’S CONSPIRACY

 Sonny Iroche urges Nigerians to be more discerning in their choices in 2023

The increasing threats by different ethnic and religious groups in the country against certain politicians, especially presidential candidates from different regions from campaigning in other areas of the country, portend serious danger which could be fiercely inflammatory and further reinforce the tendencies of intolerance based on ethnic and divergent political views in the country.

This further negates the constitutional rights of freedom of movement, freedom to campaign and the attempts at wooing the electorate on their party programmes. These are some of the tenets of democracy which are being threatened by ethnic jingoistic tendencies by those who are intolerant of different political views and persuasions in such an ethnically and religiously pluralistic and diverse country like Nigeria.

The presidential candidates of the major political parties in the country should therefore take the responsibility of enlightening their supporters and to curb their excesses.

They should also let their followers realize that in order to win the presidential election, their candidates too need other regions in the country, as no one region or ethnic group can single-handedly elect a Nigerian president.

It is also incumbent on the candidates and the parties to emphasize that the quest for political office demands decorum and calls to service, which should be played without any form of rancor violence, or bitterness. For Africa to join the league of countries where elections are bereft of violence in the 21st century, this must become true and ingrained in our political culture.

What should be of utmost importance is not to keep harping on the issues that divide us, but rather to emphasize those things which unite us, which ought to make Nigeria one of the greatest countries in the entire African continent.

Essentially, at the nucleus of the organ that would ensure a harmonious coexistence of all the ethnic nationalities in the country, is JUSTICE. Without which, there shall be no enduring peace and democracy in the country.

Furthermore, the issues that unite us as a people include but are not limited to the fact that Nigerians are resourceful, resilient, energetic, industrious, hardworking. We have huge youth population, rich in minerals and human resources and possess all those other attributes that ought to make any normal country great.

So, rather than politicians degenerating to personal attacks, name calling and irrelevances, those who aspire to lead Nigeria, and invariably the African continent come 2023, should focus their campaigns on the critical issues that are paramount to the average Nigerians and potential foreign investors, who have now found other safer investment havens on the continent.

The major challenges which pose an existential threat to our country include and are not limited to ineptitude at the governance level, lack of love and patriotism for Nigeria, which have manifested themselves in insecurity, electricity power supply, health, education, food security, unemployment, high inflation, high cost of living, depreciation of the Naira, due mainly to failed monetary and fiscal policies, and a plethora of other challenges, which are all traceable to a rudderless and selfish political leadership and class, at the expense of the working class citizens.

It is therefore important to state unequivocally that those who wish to replace the outgoing Buhari and the APC administration should come up with a clear implementable and realistic roadmap, pointing the way out of this sad situation that we have snookered ourselves into. The candidates must also be ready to show Nigerians their credentials from past experiences, exposure and verifiable evidence of consistent capacity and character.

Why should we further entrust our common patrimony in the hands of those who had made unfulfilled promises at different times in the past as they failed woefully in delivering the dividends of democracy?

Nigerians must be more discerning about the choice that they would make in 2023.

Nigerians should interrogate their leaders this time, beyond the mere prism of ethnicity and/or religion.

Nigerians have lost many years in the wilderness, because mediocrity reigned supreme. Therefore we cannot afford any more years of stagnation and stagflation.

2023 shall be a defining year for Nigeria.

 Iroche is a Senior Academic Fellow at the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford, England